Louis Jacques Botes (born 28 November 1980 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He played domestic rugby for the between 2002 and 2004 and for the between 2005 and 2014 and also played

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

for the between 2005 and 2014. He usually played as a

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

or a number eight. In 2014, he broke Helgard Müller's Currie Cup appearance record, eventually going on to play in 156 Currie Cup matches. In addition, he played in 115

matches for the , made one appearance for the Emerging Springboks during the

2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa The 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was an international rugby union tour which took place in South Africa from May to July 2009. The British & Irish Lions played a three-match Test series against South Africa, with matches in ...

and played in a further 21 first-class games, mainly in the Vodacom Cup and Vodacom Shield competitions.

Career

Pumas

After a spell in Pretoria where Botes played for the side in 2001, as well as club rugby for the University of Pretoria second team the Fezelas and their main side in 2002, Botes moved to Witbank to join the for the

2002 Currie Cup The 2002 Currie Cup was the 2002 season of the South African domestic rugby union competition, the Absa Currie Cup premier division, played from 19 July 2002 – 26 October 2002. The finals were played at Ellis Park Stadium where the Blue Bull ...

competition. He became a regular for the Pumas, making 42 appearances for them in the 2003 Vodacom Shield,

2003 Currie Cup The 2003 Currie Cup was the 2003 season of the South African domestic rugby union competition, the Absa Currie Cup premier division, played from 26 July 2003 – 1 November 2003. The 2003 Currie Cup saw the implementation of a new format for th ...

, 2004 Vodacom Shield and

2004 Currie Cup 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

competitions.

Sharks

Botes made the move to Durban to join the prior to the

2005 Super 12 season The 2005 Super 12 season was the tenth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2005, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, ...

. He made his

debut in the opening match of the competition, a 26–12 defeat to the in Cape Town, the first of many as he established himself as a regular for the Sharks over the next decade at both Super Rugby and Currie Cup level. During the

2013 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2013 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 75th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 10 August to 26 October 2013. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) was t ...

, he broke the record for the most number of Currie Cup appearances when he played in his 143rd match against . The following season, he became the first ever player to appear in 150 matches in the Currie Cup, when he was named in the starting lineup for their Round Four match against former side the . He increased this record to 156 before his retirement at the end of the 2014 season.

Barbarians

His final ever appearances was for the Barbarians against the

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

on 4 November 2014 in a match celebrating Barbarians' 125th anniversary. He scored the final try in a 59–26 victory and also slotted the resultant conversion.

External links

Sharks profile
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botes, Jacques 1980 births Living people Rugby union players from Johannesburg South African rugby union players Sharks (rugby union) players Sharks (Currie Cup) players Pumas (Currie Cup) players Rugby union flankers Afrikaner people University of Pretoria alumni Alumni of Maritzburg College